HBA-JRA S.B. 516 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 516 By: Ogden Public Education 4/26/1999 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, Texas law requires a student to withdraw from school in order to be eligible to take the high school equivalency examination. This prohibits a school district from keeping at-risk students in programs that help prepare them for the examination. S.B. 516 requires the Texas Education Agency to develop a program for school districts to prepare eligible students who are at risk of dropping out of school to take a high school equivalency examination. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Education Agency in SECTION 1 (Section 29.086, Education Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter C, Chapter 29, Education Code, by adding Section 29.086, as follows: Sec. 29.086. SCHOOL DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY EXAMINATION PROGRAMS. (a) Requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to develop a program for school districts to prepare eligible students who are at risk of dropping out of school to take a high school equivalency examination (equivalency examination). (b) Requires a district that participates in the program to offer preparatory classes for the equivalency examination to each eligible student. (c) Provides that a student is eligible to participate in the program if the student is 16 years of age or older at the beginning of the school year or semester, the student and the student's parent or guardian agree to the student's participation, there is a reasonable expectation that the student will not graduate on schedule and passing an equivalency examination would be in the student's best interest, there is a reasonable expectation that the student will be able to perform satisfactorily of the equivalency examination on completion of the program, and any other conditions specified by TEA are satisfied. (d) Requires a district to inform each student who has completed the program of the time and place at which the student is authorized to take the equivalency examination. (e) Requires TEA to adopt rules to ensure that students are not encouraged to participate in the program solely as a means to divert students with discipline problems or poor academic performance into the program as an alternative to regular high school graduation. (f) Requires TEA to request permission from the General Educational Development Testing Service to administer the service's equivalency examination to students enrolled in high school who participate in the program. (g) Requires TEA to include the number of students enrolled in the program and the number of students in the program who performed satisfactorily on the equivalency examination in its comprehensive biennial report required under Section 39.182 (Comprehensive Biennial Report). SECTION 2. Amends Section 7.111(a), Education Code, to make conforming changes. SECTION 3. Amends Section 25.086(a), Education Code, to make conforming changes. SECTION 4. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.